Ján Hollý

…number of writers, above all Ján Hollý, who used Slovak to produce lyrics, idylls, and national epics. Jozef Ignác Bajza’s novel René (1783–85), using Slovakized Czech, also had a strong impact.

The Catholic priest Ján Hollý (1785–1849) was the first Slovak writer to use the Slovak language successfully in his poetry. The language had been recently codified by another priest, Anton Bernolák, who had based his codification on the Western Slovak dialect. Yet Bernolák’s Slovak failed to catch on,…